DO YOU DRUM HERE OFTEN?

The DUP is alarmed at the persecution of Christians at home and abroad. The bizarre thing about this is that it was the DUP and their religious militiamen who demonised, say persecuted, Christians here in Ireland.

That shuddering history is easy to forget. Especially since the "separated brethren" of the DUP have gone ecumenical and joined the Papes and Romanists, standing square against the latest bogey man and target of religious panic. G.K. Chesterton was right:

"The Calvinist Ulsterman may be more of a Catholic Irishman than is commonly realised, especially by himself."

The scoundrels have found refuge in unity, utter desperation. Yes, Catholics are no longer the greatest threat to liberty and Northern Ireland, it's the gay constituency. You can see the historical parallel, right?

There are a lot of liberals out there who're saying, 'Oh yea I think the Equality Commission has gone too far', tacitly nodding along that clerical line that Christians are under attack. Saying "OK" to that shrill, splenetic hyperbole and overstatement. For shame.

But this latest line from Jeffrey was particularly egregious. Effective at spreading panic among the credulous, but dastardly conceited and egregious and dangerous. This was it: Comparing the request put to Ashers to bake a cake in support of marriage to asking a Falls Road baker to sign off in support of the Shankill Butchers. Intolerable. That is what we're working with and it has to be repudiated and countered effectively. With flat out fact, like as Fionuala Meredith said:

"Christians are certainly not an oppressed minority in this country, that has to be said very, very strongly, they run the place, they define so much of our lives here."

"We have all the evidence that we need to show that lesbian, gay, bi and trans people experience severe and prolonged forms of discrimination that has enormous impact on their mental health. I would love to see a study that shows me that Christians in the UK have negative mental health outcomes because of their experiences of being Christians and being discriminated against for their religious beliefs. So I can accept that people feel left behind but I do not accept that they are discriminated against."

This isn't a little shop being bullied by Goliath. The shrieking is unfounded. Ashers is in alliance with the largest political party the DUP, the Catholic Church, the Caleb Foundation and a host of evangelical denominations. They have the pocket and ear of the Evangelical Alliance led by religious big mouth Peter Lynas. This group is part of a global theo-conservative web with access to huge revenue and funding streams.

Liam Clarke showed us the disproportionate hold Free Presbyterian crazies, the people who think they on a small Irish land mass will be raptured while humanity all go to hell, have on the DUP.

With the rolling out of rights, the world sincere Christians have known has not ended, just changed. The leeching of rights to African Americans was opposed stridently by white people, often based on religious grounds. The words of Lyndon B. Johnson stand as counsel for us, he said as he signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964:

"The purpose of this law is simple. It does not restrict the freedom of any American, so long as he respects the rights of others. It does not give special treatment to any citizen. It does say the only limit to a man’s hope for happiness, and for the future of his children, shall be his own ability. It does say that those who are equal before God shall now also be equal in the polling booths, in the classrooms, in the factories, and in hotels and restaurants and movie theatres and other places that provide service to the public."

Just as the DUP and "devout" Protestants demonised, prejudiced and opposed Catholics, they're doing it with the LGBT minority.

They would never use the anti-Catholic language of the past. But anti-Catholicism was only one of many religiously inspired intolerance we're seen wiped away.

This line of "sincerely held religious beliefs" is another bogus slogan. Time after time "sincerely held religious beliefs" have been altered and edited to take Christianity up to speed with society. They keep resisting, we just have to remind the hard-liners they did this hissy fits last time.

This has to be put down. You're on the wrong side of history. Just like Paisley said when he sat with McGuinness, they'll be saying in a few years:

"If anybody had told me a few years ago that I would be doing this, I would have been unbelieving."